Sisters’ accident raises safety issues

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004 | 11:13 a.m.

An accident that seriously injured an 11-year-old girl crossing Lake Mead Boulevard near Civic Center Drive was at least the eighth such pedestrian accident in three years in the neighborhood, safety experts say.

The girl was thrown onto the windshield of a car in North Las Vegas as she and her 13-year-old sister crossed the street about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday on the way to the school.

The accident raises issues of pedestrian safety in the area that straddles North Las Vegas and Las Vegas city limits and includes several schools.

"There's always a (group) of kids who run over here like nobody's business," said Gabriel Islas, who works at Taco Bell on the corner of Civic Center Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard. "They don't pay attention."

Dave Bell, a co-worker at Taco Bell, agreed.

"They cross the street (jaywalking) all the time."

The girl, whose name was being withheld by North Las Vegas Police, was hit just a few blocks from where 12-year-old Stephen Allshouse died in 2001. Allshouse died after being hit by a recycling truck while crossing the intersection of Searles and Eastern avenues.

The year Allshouse was struck, three other children from 5 to 13 years old were also hit by cars while walking in that area, said Maggie Saunders, manager of the pedestrian and bicycle safety program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Sgt. Dan Ewing said Tuesday's accident appears to be poor judgment on the part of the two children.

Ewing said the 11-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister were jaywalking across three lanes of Lake Mead Boulevard when they were hit by a 1994 Ford Taurus driven by 26-year-old Rene Montiel.

While all other traffic was stopped for a red light, Montiel was driving in the left turn lane preparing to turn onto Civic Center Drive when he hit the girls.

The 13-year-old was grazed by the car, but her sister was thrown onto the hood and into the windshield.

Ewing said the younger sister has a broken leg and possibly a broken hip.

Saunders said that's an example of how children in middle school aren't quite ready to make the kind of decisions needed to ensure their own safety.

"People, particularly children, are not a very good judge of speed," Saunders said. "I believe that (safety officials) believe that middle school students are responsible enough to cross the street by themselves. Unfortunately, as we can tell from the crash today, they aren't."

Saunders said that the elderly have similar problems judging traffic dangers.

Civic Center Drive between Bonanza Road and Lake Mead Boulevard saw several pedestrian-related accidents in the past two years. In 2002 there were one fatality and two injuries, although unlike 2001 most of the accidents involved elderly pedestrians instead of children. Figures weren't available for 2003.

Principal Karen Paquette of J.D. Smith Middle School, about four blocks from the scene of Tuesday's accident, said most of the children at her school walk to school.

"We had a scare a couple of weeks ago with a kid on a bike," Paquette said. "I think kids (in middle school) are at the age where they're not really paying enough attention."

Paquette said the school distributes fliers to parents telling them the safest routes to school and where to pick up and drop off their children.